Stolen Powers: Rise of the NGZ

Chapter Twenty-One: Cochabamba

"Hey, Mase," a voice called out to me as someone gently shook me to my senses. "Wake up." 

My eyes fluttered open as I looked around in a daze. Donovan was still sitting beside me, looking out of the window that Jamie and Bailey were sitting next to. 

"Where are we?" I asked, still trying to shake off the drowsiness. 

"Five minutes outside of Cochabamba," he answered me. His tone sounded like he was dreading it. I felt the same way. 

"Ah, okay. Did you get any sleep?" 

He pursed his lips. "Not really. Maybe about thirty minutes or so, but that's about it." 

Before I could respond, the speaker buzzed and spoke in Spanish. I looked to Jamie for a translation. "What'd he say?" 

"He said that we'd be arriving soon and to get our things together," she said. 

I nodded. "Might as well." 

Even though I didn't bring much more than a couple of drinks and some water bottles, I picked my bag and set it in my lap as if it had really expensive artifacts in them. I stared at it for a while before snapping back into reality due to the train hitting the brakes. 

"Looks like we're here," Donovan mumbled quietly. I saw his fingers grip his small bag out of anxiousness. 

"Yeah, I guess so," I responded. "Let's just hope we manage to get there without too much trouble." 

He sighed. "I highly doubt that, but we can hope." 

Three or so minutes went by and the train came to a complete stop. I slowly stood up and stretched my legs. I met Bailey at her seat, and she stood there, staring at the ground. 

"Are you okay?" I asked as I held my hand out for her to hold. She accepted it and nodded. 

"I will be. I'm just scared that something bad is going to happen like it did in Mexico City, you know?" 

I waited until we got off the train before I responded so nobody could hear us. "Yeah, I feel the same way. If we just be smart and careful, nothing too bad should really happen. We just have to watch each other's backs and make sure nobody gets shot or electrocuted." 

Bailey pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah, you're right." 

We made our way out of the station and into the bustling streets. I noticed that a lot of the roads looked relatively similar to Viacha's, but it was definitely busier now that this was the end of morning rush hour. A lot of people were dressed up in attires that meant business, while others were casually strolling down the sidewalk like we were, except it wasn't so casual for us. 

"The city's nice," Jamie said. "Besides the fact that we're here for...you know what." 

Donovan nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to enjoy being here, but fate has other things in mind I suppose." 

"Let's just hope we get a chance to take a breath before any NGZ show up,"  I said with a sigh. "In the meantime, let's try to find out where the headquarters could be so we have a directional bearing." 

Quentin frowned. "If I recall, Lin told me that it to the east side of the city shortly before you guys raided Mexico City. I'm not sure if that's a hundred percent true, but it's better than nothing." 

"That's true," Landon said with a bit lip. "It makes sense since that's away from any major businesses that could interfere." 

"What should we do for now?" Bailey asked me, gently squeezing my hand.